Anyone read Seth Godin’s blog or books?

I like him.

One of the concepts he seems to emphasize, or at least what I think he has  emphasized, is this; make your business so qualitatively different, that it’s worth talking about and hard to forget.

To lift an idea from his book, imagine driving home and spotting a purple cow meandering along the side of the road (Purple Cow – the title to one of his books). The experience you had was so different! You’ve just got to tell folks when you arrive home, and again the next day at work. 

Here is a quote from his blog:

“Google maps is just plain better than MapQuest or Yahoo Maps.
So much better it’s remarkable. So much better that it doesn’t make sense to use anything else.”

“This is worth remembering. Your first choice is always to be so much better that all the marketing hype is secondary.”

Seth also writes about constantly pushing yourself to try out new things.

LET’S APPLY THIS THINKING TO LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Don’t have a blog yet for your school? Try it.
Never tried dressing up as a purple cow and passing out fliers in front of your school? Try it.

Are you experimenting with new ideas in your school?
Are you testing changes to your business to create something so far from what everyone else is doing that you stand  head-and-shoulders  above your competition?

If you boast, “We have all native speakers and 90 minute classes instead of 45 minute classes!” I suppose Seth would probably respond that that is not enough, anyone can do that.

What combination of changes could you try out, that might turn your school into something greater, something  truly worth talking about?

HERE IS WHAT I DID…I URGE YOU TO  DO BETTER!

1. We explained our curriculum in a detailed handbook. I’ve talked to other school owners. You’d be surprised at how many owners just write, “Modern Curriculum” yet fail to explain exactly what they mean. Does this impress visitors? I doubt it.  I decided to do it differently. I typed up exactly what we had going on, and put it together in a clear file.  I finished it off with our color logo on top.

When parents and their child visited my school, considering whether or not to join, I handed them the   handbook  to read while their child was sitting in on a sample class.  RESULT: It sure saved time after the lesson was finished. Fewer questions.. I could move right into the “close”…Within the hour, I usually had a new student.  I credit the smooth transition from visitor to new client, to my effort in put together that  handbook.

2. Emphasized my qualifications in teaching (I admit that this was a double edged sword – if I left, and hired someone without my background, I could be in trouble!). Heck, if you have the paper, flaunt it.

3. Spent thousands of dollars to make my classroom something a father or mother would be proud to talk about with friends (word-of-mouth).  From imported rugs, to wall map murals, we maximized our first impression brownie points. RESULT: Sign up rate in the 90% range.

4. Offered my students and their parents online scheduling – something no one else had in my neighborhood.

And a few other things.

What ideas do *you* have that might make your school the next Google Maps – something, as Seth put it, “so much better, it’s remarkable.”

RECOMMENDED SETH GODIN BOOK: (an 8-year compilation of his blog posts in one book) Small is the New Big: And 183 Other Riffs, Rants and Remarkable Business Ideas

(FULL INTERVIEW) This man, went from near death – lying in the hospital – to becoming a successful language school owner of two schools; a Children’s language school AND an Adult language school in Osaka, Japan.

I really like his attitude toward life. Wise words.

Please leave comments or questions, for him below. I, for one, am grateful for his generosity in sitting down with me a while back to do this interview.

I’m sure he’d love to hear your thoughts. (This school owner has requested anonymity for privacy reasons)

Click here to view the embedded video.

I often think about timing.
Why did I meet that person at that moment?
Why did I stumble upon a website at a certain point in my life…

I recently stumbled upon this video…thought I’d pass it along.

“Success is something you attract, by becoming an attractive person”
“Profits are better than wages”
“Your income is directly related to your philosophy, not the economy”

Jim is quoting HIS mentor, in this video.

OK, who is Jim Rohn?
Jim Rohn was the mentor of Anthony Robbins.
—You’ve heard of Tony Robbins, right? Tony got started with Jim.

Are our students ready for their teacher to appear? ….Are we?

Jim Rohn passed away just recently. Listen to this man’s wisdom…

Part 4 of 4

In this final segment, Sean Gallagher describes innovations he hopes will not only make our teaching more efficient, but will aid in the management and marketing of our schools as well.

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(privacy: your email always remains hidden)

I recently met Greg Crawford, a fellow school owner who also runs  English School Marketing, a company that assists school owners with marketing such as flyer’s, market research, etc.

So here I was in the same room with other teachers discussing the future of English Language industry at a recent Expo.

We meet each other for the first time. Greg hands me his card.

The thing that impressed me was not the fact that I learned that Greg has a huge school (hundreds of students), but I was impressed  by his business card, of all things.

His business card is not just any ordinary business card.

His business card is like one of those Transformer figures.

Standard sized card above – Appears like small business card….

….but it actually transforms into a brochure!!

When he gave me that, I immediately went “Wow”…and then wondered what his OTHER marketing material must look like.

There is a lesson here for all of us:

When you  make contact for the first time, IMPRESS ‘EM!! WOW ‘EM!!

When you “WOW!” someone, it causes the recipient think “If this is his (X), I wonder what his (Y) must look like!”

What can YOU be doing to Wow your potential clients?

Thanks Greg for this lesson.

Part 3 of 4
This part of the interview has a twist
- Sean is presented with questions sent in from YOU, my blog readers! (be sure to send in your questions for the next interview by emailing me)

Sean has not seen these questions so what you are seeing in this video is 100% unscripted answers.

Sean talks about Word of Mouth Marketing at his language school.
He also covers Tell-a-Friend campaigns. Do they work (at his school)?
How about setting deadlines e.g. “Be sure to introduce your friend by July 25th” ?

What kind of acknowledgment does Sean give the student who successfully introduces a friend to his school?

Does he offer Cash back? Or some type of physical product?

Find out the answers to all of these questions in the 7 minute video above!

As always,

leave your comments or questions for Sean in the “Comments” box below

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